Narrative:

Large transport was inbound to sju from the west at FL330, descending to 10,000'. Small aircraft was a departure from sju to maz at 10,000'. Due to poor procedures here at sju cerap, we have several areas where departures are routed head-on with arrs. The R2 position was busy at this time due to air carrier hub operation at sju. Also the R2 controller works on a high range due to the amount of airspace covered thereby making separation between targets appear to be a small distance. My intent was to vector large transport north of small aircraft, however, I could not do this early because of another sju wbound departure slightly north of the large transport track. As these aircraft converged, the tracks and data blocks came close together and overlapped. There were 4 aircraft targets and data blocks in the same vicinity. Due to equipment limitations, a controller here cannot easily reposition data blocks after handoff to another sector, which was the case with the large transport and another aircraft in the vicinity. Due to equipment limitations, a controller here cannot easily reposition data blocks after handoff to another sector, which was the case with the large transport and another aircraft in this incident. Due to the inability to move these data blocks, I was uncertain about which target was the correct one and ended up vectoring large transport too late to maintain separation with small aircraft. Solution: a major problem at san juan cerap is neglected equipment requirements to service the amount of operations we now have!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACFT ON CONFLICTING COURSE CAME IN CLOSE PROX TO EACH OTHER RESULTING IN LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION.

Narrative: LGT WAS INBND TO SJU FROM THE W AT FL330, DESCENDING TO 10,000'. SMA WAS A DEP FROM SJU TO MAZ AT 10,000'. DUE TO POOR PROCS HERE AT SJU CERAP, WE HAVE SEVERAL AREAS WHERE DEPS ARE ROUTED HEAD-ON WITH ARRS. THE R2 POSITION WAS BUSY AT THIS TIME DUE TO AIR CARRIER HUB OPERATION AT SJU. ALSO THE R2 CTLR WORKS ON A HIGH RANGE DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF AIRSPACE COVERED THEREBY MAKING SEPARATION BETWEEN TARGETS APPEAR TO BE A SMALL DISTANCE. MY INTENT WAS TO VECTOR LGT N OF SMA, HOWEVER, I COULD NOT DO THIS EARLY BECAUSE OF ANOTHER SJU WBOUND DEP SLIGHTLY N OF THE LGT TRACK. AS THESE ACFT CONVERGED, THE TRACKS AND DATA BLOCKS CAME CLOSE TOGETHER AND OVERLAPPED. THERE WERE 4 ACFT TARGETS AND DATA BLOCKS IN THE SAME VICINITY. DUE TO EQUIPMENT LIMITATIONS, A CTLR HERE CANNOT EASILY REPOSITION DATA BLOCKS AFTER HANDOFF TO ANOTHER SECTOR, WHICH WAS THE CASE WITH THE LGT AND ANOTHER ACFT IN THE VICINITY. DUE TO EQUIPMENT LIMITATIONS, A CTLR HERE CANNOT EASILY REPOSITION DATA BLOCKS AFTER HANDOFF TO ANOTHER SECTOR, WHICH WAS THE CASE WITH THE LGT AND ANOTHER ACFT IN THIS INCIDENT. DUE TO THE INABILITY TO MOVE THESE DATA BLOCKS, I WAS UNCERTAIN ABOUT WHICH TARGET WAS THE CORRECT ONE AND ENDED UP VECTORING LGT TOO LATE TO MAINTAIN SEPARATION WITH SMA. SOLUTION: A MAJOR PROBLEM AT SAN JUAN CERAP IS NEGLECTED EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS TO SERVICE THE AMOUNT OF OPERATIONS WE NOW HAVE!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.